Jan Ledbetter, NWS
 Jan’s watermedia paintings are pictorial tapestries layering observations and imagination, design elements, abstract motifs, and personal symbols. Though models often pose for her figurative work, she is never interested in creating an exact likeness, but rather in using the figure as a design element. By exploring the relationships of value, shape, texture and color, she leads the viewer on a creative journey through each painting. Travels throughout Central and South America and giving numerous painting workshops in Guatemala and Ecuador have greatly influenced her subject matter. Her recent paintings record her impressions of the Maya women in Guatemala's colorful marketplace.
Jan’s paintings are held in private collections around the world and have been reproduced on posters for charitable events and art festivals. The American Artist Watercolor Magazine, featured her paintings in an article titled “The Joy of Paint and Paper,” winter 2007, and several of her paintings were included in Mary Todd Beam’s book “The Creative Edge”. Balancing painting, teaching in Virginia, giving painting workshops internationally and in the states, her work reflects the joy and passion that she brings to every aspect of her life. She has taught and exhibited her paintings for over 30 years. She holds a MFA from Syracuse University and has earned Signature Memberships in many prestigious watercolor societies including the National watercolor Society, San Diego Watercolor Society, and Southern Watercolor Society.
www.janledbetter.com/
 Elaine Abbott
Elaine Abbott is a resident of Williamsburg, Virginia. She attended Hollins College, Roanoke, Virginia for two years where she majored in painting before transferring to William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia graduating with a BA in fine arts. She attended Les Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Fontainebleau, France after graduation. After her children were born, she painted sparingly. Now that they are grown she paints daily – well almost!
In Williamsburg she has exhibited her paintings at a one-man show at the Trellis Restaurant, and a two man show at “This Century Gallery”, Williamsburg, Va. Juried art shows in which she has exhibited: Art In The Square, Williamsburg, Virginia; An Occasion For The Arts, Williamsburg, Virginia; Charles H. Taylor Arts Center; Stockley Gardens Art Festival, Norfolk; Va. Beach Board Walk Show, Virginia Beach; Holly Point Fine Art/Seafood Festival, Deltaville; Mathews’market Days, Mathews, Va.; Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, Mystic, Rhode Island; Arts In The Park, Richmond, Virginia; Art On The Half Shell, Urbanna, Virginia
Sharon Gustafson
I started desinging and creating jewelry more than twenty years ago.I have always had an interest in painting and began my formal training with Jan Ledbetter fifteen years ago. I started with watercolors and now work primarily with acrylics.
My painting focus is figurative and animals, incorporating vivid colors and an abstract touch while exploring the personality of the subject.
My Jewelry designs are free form, using semiprecious gems, pearls, and crystals on crocheted wire. Each piece is unique.
Heidi Ledbetter Lucy
Heidi Ledbetter Lucy is a pet portrait artist and the daughter of Jan Ledbetter. Enjoying capturing an animal's character and personality, she paints her colorful portraits using the mediums of watercolor, gouache, and acrylic. Heidi shows and sells her paintings at the Peninsula Fine Art Center Shop in Newport News and the Gallery on the York in Yorktown, Virginia
Pam Oden
Painting is a means of personal expression for me. I try to not only describe the subject matter in my work, but to use design elements of shape, line, value, color, and texture to convey a feeling or mood. I love to utilize color to enhance both the painting experience and the viewer’s pleasure. If I were to say that I had a gifting, it would be in seeing color.
I have had the joy of studying with the following instructors during my 30 year art adventure: Betty Anglin; Jan Ledbetter; and James Warwick Jones. My painting has been influenced by the following workshop artists: Lana Grow; George James; Gerald Brommer; and Donna Zagotta.
I really enjoy exploring new surfaces on which to paint, whether using water color and gouache on gessoed paper, or painting with acrylics on wood paneling. Painting connects me with both the past and the present. I look for new current subject matter for photographs from which to work, while following the past tradition of 4 generations of women artists our family.
Patricia Rapoport
I am so pleased to be in this exhibition with Jan and friends!
Jan has been my teacher and mentor for close to twenty years and any success I may have as painter can be directly attributed to her constant encouragement and support. The paintings on display represent my current preoccupation with the shape of buildings and towns. I am fascinated by the old cities in Europe and the way all different kinds of shapes interconnect. Roofs and windows, doorways and town clocks, bridges, stone walls and rivers-there are a million ways to put them together! In “Istanbul” I experiment with objects of varying size (the very small boat and tiny houses versus the larger shapes behind them) in an attempt to create the idea of fantasy. In ”City at Dusk” strong color links varying shapes together while in “Hay-on-Wye” ( a small town in northern Wales dominated by a clock tower) I use pale color and strong linework to capture the feel of the village. And “Istanbul Spring” is probably a bit more colorful than Istanbul really is, but the shapes are all from the Islamic world. “Sweet Peas” was based on these beautiful flowers that are so quick to fade and die, but I kept buying the flowers and trying to paint them because they are just magically dainty.
www.patriciarapoport.com
Karen Anderson Schwartz
I earned my B.A. degree in fine arts from San Diego State University with a concentration in Painting & Printmaking many, many years ago, and although I've always had some sort of creative project in the works, I didn't start painting again until 1997 when I started taking watercolor classes with Jan Ledbetter.
I love to travel and enjoy painting scenes from the hundreds of photos I've taken. I also love to paint and draw people and enjoy working from models, although I usually have to settle for working from my photos. The pieces in this show include work from a model (Woman on Green) and from photos taken of people in California (The Baker) and England (Maisie in the Tea Garden). The two landscapes are from photos taken on a recent trip to Italy.
Jan is a wonderful teacher and inspires her students to be creative and to continuously improve their work. Jan’s support and encouragement during the 10 years I studied with her was exactly what I needed to take myself seriously as an artist and painter when I decided to pursue painting again. I am especially grateful to Jan for inviting me to participate in this group show featuring her current and former students -- this is a terrific group to be included among!
www.karenschwartzart.com
Sally Wiseman
I love to paint in transparent watercolor. My impressionistic style is achieved through a wet into wet approach where a natural soft edged feel is created. I love the luminous effect that can be created with the flowing colors of this medium. The play of light in nature and its beauty provokes me to pick up my brush and paint. As with most artists my favorite painting subjects are things I love and know – flowers, country scenes from travel, and the endless fascination of people.
Influenced by the art worlds interest in expanding traditional watercolor, I have some paintings in the show which combine other media. Often I will enhance my watercolor paintings with pastel for added lushness. Acrylics, another type of water media, are very versatile and I have employed acrylics to look very much like an oil painting.
I remember loving to draw as a child and took art courses at my alma mater, Mount Holyoke College; in Massachusetts. A two year stay in Paris, while my husband, Bob, was on assignment with IBM ignited a desire to study and paint seriously, After my art studies in Paris, I continued to take courses and study under the tutelage of Charles Reid and Bob Baxter at the Silvermine Guild of Artists in New Canaan Connecticut. While living in Connecticut I had three one woman shows and won several awards. I am presently a member of the Virginia Watercolor Society and This Century Gallery in Williamsburg, where in 2010 and 2011 I received merit awards in the annual member show. Living in Governors Land I have had three one woman shows at the Two Rivers Country Club and my paintings have been purchased for numerous homes both locally and afar.
TCAG Preview: Elaine Abbott, Sharon Gustafson, Jan Ledbetter, Pam Oden,
Karen Schwartz, & Sally Wiseman
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